how's my king? brave enough for you? talk to me! obviously sambas is an ongoing canon, and i'm doing my best, but if he's not coming across quite right, i'm up for hearing it. be harsh if you need to be, but try to be polite?

≫ PLAYER INFORMATION
Player NAME: Sandy
Current AGE: 23
Player TIME ZONE: EST (GMT -5)
Personal JOURNAL: miltennious
IM & SERVICE: rocketkind @ aim
Player PLURK: ampersandy
Current CHARACTERS: Haruto Souma (ringwizard) and Tsubomi Hanasaki (buttpunch)

≫ CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character NAME: Daigo "King" Kiryuu
Canon & MEDIUM: Voltasaur Team Kyoryuger (LA TV Series)
Canon PULL-POINT: After episode 23; Deboss has been temporarily defeated with the help of Plezuon and BRAVERY.
Character AGE: 20
Character ABILITIES: Extremely adept physical fighter with extensive experience living ~rough. He can paint and cook and it's heavily implied he has a variety of other random skills he's a master of. He is likely a polyglot of some sort (Japanese + Arabic + Spanish + English, with a smattering of various other languages, including Khmer and Thai), not including his ability to communicate with dinosaurs. He beat a dinosaur in a fight with his bare hands and a blaster gun. He's what amounts to a Power Ranger, so when he transforms into Kyoryu Red using the power of a Beast Battery (and the power of samba) (no, seriously) he gains an armored form capable of superhuman feats of strength. He has also gained the ability to use what is referred to as "brave" within the series; functionally, it works as harnessing bravery as an actual energy source, in order to strengthen your attack power.
Character HISTORY: Deboss is a gigantic alien, a creature who eradicates the species of the planets upon which he arrives in order to take on their best qualities. After attacking an unknown planet hosting a bug-like species that gained advanced intelligence, Deboss shifted his attention to the infant Earth, at that time populated by the dinosaurs. With the aid of the Extinctors, Deboss set off the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event, but Torin, a bird-man known as the Paragon Supreme, converted representatives of many dinosaur species into Voltasaurs, (lit. "Electric Beast Dragons"), who are powered by bravery (and electricity). Together, the Voltasaurs sunk the corpse of Deboss (and with him his closest lieutenants) into the ocean, where they froze. Left free were the Extinctors: Debo Iceage, Debo Virsun, and Debo Meetior. Each spent the next few thousand years occasionally popping up to cause trouble, prompting Torin to offer the opportunity to become a Kyoryuger to three warriors. First among them was Tessai, a Chinese monk living in the early 500s, who became Kyoryu Grey, partner to Bunpachy, a Pachycephalosaurus. Next was Ramirez, a Spanish soldier living in the Middle Ages, who became Kyoryu Cyan, partner to the Ankylosaurus Voltasaur, Ankydon. The third was Utsusemimaru, a samurai from the Warring States period, who became Kyoryu Gold, partner to the Pteranosaurus, Pteragordon. Tessai and Ramirez went on to die, and become "Spirit Rangers", warriors powered by their partnership with their Voltasaur. If Ankydon or Bunpachy are killed, Tessai and Ramirez will pass on with them. Utsusemimaru, however, was seemingly lost in a battle with Deboss Lieutenant Dogold after the death of his compatriots and liege lord. Fast forward to 2013. Deboss' body has begun thawing out, and with it his second, the Many Faced Priest Chaos. Chaos reawakens the three knights of emotion: Candelira, the Knight of Laughter, and her subordinate, the Spy of Smiles, Luckiero. Aigaron, the Knight of Sadness. Dogold, the Knight of Rage. In order to reawaken Deboss, his Knights needed to gather enough of their chosen emotion (happiness, sadness, anger) and fill Deboss with the essence of the human spirit. Emotion will reinvigorate and thaw out Deboss entirely, allowing his body to reawaken.

Daigo Kiryuu spent the majority of his youth wandering with his father, the stoic and severe Dantetsu. When he was around 9, his father gave him a mysterious necklace with an amber pendant encasing some kind of claw or tooth, money, and a map, and informed him that he was welcome to use the money in order to return to Japan and live a normal life, or he could, like his father, live a life "following the path of the great lizards". His father abruptly disappeared, leaving Daigo to decide for himself. Because this is a show about badasses that punch dinosaurs with their bare hands, of course, Daigo chose the latter, spending the next 11 years traveling the world. With the thawing out of Deboss' body arises the masses of the Deboss army, the Paramonsters, to attack humans across the Earth. Daigo, now called "King", on an island "in the South Sea", leads the charge against them in order to defend the citizens of the island. His bravery (you're going to see that word a lot) draws the attention of Torin. Daigo, it seems, was on the same island as the great Gabutyra, a Tyrannosaurus Rex Voltasaur slumbering for an age in a volcano. Daigo, Torin declares, has the ability to be one of the "strongest and bravest in history"--if he can defeat Gabutyra in battle. One full month later, Daigo defeats Gabutyra, but Gabutyra, afraid to see Daigo hurt, refuses to make him a Kyoryuger, until Daigo stands before the gathered enemy without his assistance and reminds him that he's the guy who defeated Gabutyra, who therefore has no right to try and protect him from fighting. Gabutyra, impassioned by this bravery, relents, and Daigo becomes Kyoryu Red.

His new teammates attempt to suggest the Kyoryugers remain partners only on the battlefield, not sharing their secret identities, but Daigo doesn't give a shit about that, so he sheds his armor and introduces himself as "Daigo, but everybody calls me King." Over the next few weeks, he convinces the others to reveal their identities, and they come together as a team just in time to meet Ramirez, and his ailing partner Ankydon. After purifying Ankydon of the influence of Extinctioner Debo Virsun, the Kyoryugers come into conflict with Dogold, the Knight of Rage. In a plot twist, it's revealed that Dogold is actually a living suit of armor, and he's possessed none other than Utsusemimaru, who Torin had thought dead. They free Utsusemimaru of his captivity, but Utsusemimaru is strangely cold and unaccepting of the Kyoryugers. Of course, because Kyoryuger is all about screwing with us, Utsusemimaru (shortly renamed "Ucchi" by a helpful Amy) is a giant ball of goo whose liege lord was killed protecting him back in the warring states period. (His liege lord, coincidentally, looks exactly like Daigo in a fake mustache, which is a given since that's literally who they cast.) Ucchi wants the Kyoryugers to get stronger, to match his strength, and he's convinced the only way to do so is by being tough and strict on his new teammates.

Ucchi's ruse lasts all of two episodes before he and Daigo are trapped in a pocket dimension without the use of their powers formed by the very monster that killed Ucchi's liege lord. Daigo is injured by an accompanying Dogold, and after Ucchi tries to drug him to sleep, Daigo fastens the Magnom biting end first to his own butt, in order to stay awake. "I'm not your Lord, or whatever, and we're not your dead comrades. Keep talking like that and I'll beat you up," he tells Ucchi, and so begins a partnership. Gabutyra breaks open the pocket dimension using the spiritual connection between him and Daigo, and Daigo and Ucchi return to the real world (where the rest of his team has been introduced to the fact that he is a moeblob by Amy) in order to kill some monsters. There's a lot of explosions and cg and fire and stuff, it's very charming.

With the continued efforts of his subordinates, Deboss has been partially revived, and with his revival has come a surge in the strength of his soldiers. The original five Kyoryugers find, all of a sudden, that their attacks don't work properly in a fight with Debo Meetior, the final Extinctor, until the arrival of Utsusemimaru, bolstered by his desire to protect his teammates. He forces Meetior to retreat, and when the Kyoryugers gather in the Spirit Base, he alone is commended by their second Spirit Ranger, the stoic and hard-headed Tessai, or Kyoryu Grey. In an attempt to teach them what Ucchi has just learned to do, Tessai tests the main five Kyoryuger in an illusory temple, where each Kyoryuger must individually face a replica of Tessai wearing a hat with a silly balloon on it. Pop the balloon, you pass. It's not that easy, of course: Tessai is a tough opponent, and he uses a Beast Battery on each person he's testing (the tickle battery, the dizziness inducing battery, the gravity addition battery, the... fart gas battery...). Nossan, Amy, Ian and Souji each pass their individual tests, only to find Daigo napping on a bench: he's handily defeated Tessai in a fraction of the time it took them to find victory, despite being under the influence of all four of the other batteries.

In their next encounter with Debo Meetior, Ucchi is told to stay back and let Tessai watch the performance of the original five. While Nossan, Ian, Amy and Souji all find their resolve and attack Meetior to great effect, Daigo's attacks haven't improved at all. He's nearly killed by Meetior before Ucchi rescues him, and after Meetior departs once more, Tessai declares they all have passed--except Daigo, who he declares must leave the Voltasaurs, or he will never permit Bunpachy to join them. Daigo is simply too brave. When Daigo asks how the hell he's supposed to fix that, Tessai kind of shrugs. Don't know, don't care. Daigo spends an overnight in a hospital bed while his friends worry: without him, they're not the team, but they need Bunpachy's assistance. Daigo, predictably, escapes from his bed in order to go think on the roof, and Torin arrives to explain Tessai's philosophy (fearing he would be unable to protect his family from Meetior during their initial encounter, Tessai learned to harness his protective feelings and use his bravery in battle), but is interrupted by Tessai, who attacks Daigo. He uses his special move on Daigo, a punch, and tells him that "unless you can crack my [helmet] I will not acknowledge you". Then he and Daigo go off to the Twilit Forest, where he puts Daigo in an illusion. The rest of the Voltasaurs search for Daigo until Meetior and Dogold reappear, at which point Ucchi separates off to distract them. Within his illusion, Daigo meets first an illusory Debo Meetior, and then Tessai himself. Tessai punches him into a handy nearby river, and Daigo is rescued by a hippie guy with long hair and a fishing pole. They talk for a few minutes, about how real bravery comes from being aware of the dangers of activities and doing them anyway, not from being so reckless you're unafraid of it at all. Incited to further, more realistic bravery, Daigo struggles to his feet. He's gotta go! He has work to do. His ~mysterious rescuer~ asks if he's not afraid, if he's not worried. Daigo says it doesn't matter: he has a team he loves, and that he wants to protect. On his way back, he meets an illusion of his father. Daigo is immediately thrilled to meet him, but this is what breaks him from the illusion. He doesn't want to meet his dad in an illusion: he wants to meet him for real. This reality check breaks him free, and he turns around to find his teammates. Torin appears to inform them that Ucchi has been captured, and that Dogold intends on making Ucchi angry enough to repossess him. Daigo motivates the team and tries to get moving, but predictably, Tessai arrives, and reminds him of his rule. Daigo matches Tessai's technique and avoids Tessai's strike in order to punch Tessai: and crack his helmet. Satisfied, Tessai allows them to leave, and Daigo rescues Ucchi from getting murdered just in time. He, like the others, is bolstered now by his desire to protect his teammates, and they handily defeat Meetior. When Meetior inevitably grows to his bigger size, the hippie arrives again, and reveals himself to be... Tessai in disguise! What a surprise. He gives Daigo the Bunpachy battery, and they use it to defeat the monster, etc.

Next comes the Japanese holiday of Tanabata, and with it, a happiness-collecting monster named Debo Tanbanta. On Tanabata, people write wishes on papers and hang them from a bamboo tree. Tanbanta has special strips of these papers that grant the wish written on them, but strike the wisher down with agonizing pain until sunrise the day after Tanabata, at which point they will all die. Daigo rebuffs making a wish, but the rest of the Kyoryugers write their wishes down on paper from Tanbanta (unknowingly). One after another, their wishes are granted, laying them each out to suffer. Daigo follows the last fulfilled wish back to its source, where Tanbanta waits, and attacks him, Candelira, and Luckiero by himself. He's beaten back at first, until a familiar figure arrives: his father. His father uses a wind punch technique to knock Tanbanta flat and, additionally, attack the weak point on Tanbanta's chest, releasing the wish papers (and the victims from their suffering), just before sunrise. He stops Daigo from rushing forward to hug him and tells him to continue walking the path of the great lizards before the rest of the Voltasaurs arrive, at which point he seems to disappear. (Or was never physically present to anyone but Daigo. It's unclear at this point, and the Kyoryugers express confusion about the source of Daigo's truly ridiculously good mood.)

A week later, Torin introduces the Kyoryugers (by video) to Kyoryu Violet, partner to the spaceworthy Plesiosaurus, Plezuon, who is, unlike the other Kyoryugers they've met, alive and well. Plezuon is attacked as it returns to earth, and as a result crashes into the sea, so the Kyoryugers go to check in on him and are attacked by none other than the newly revived Extinctors. The other Kyoryugers battle the Extinctors while Daigo goes to check on Violet and Plezuon, but he finds himself being rescued by Violet instead. Plezuon, of course, is both space and sea worthy: his landing was on purpose. Daigo returns to his teammates to help them force the Extinctors into retreat, and then Torin leads them all to the undersea Plezuon Base. There, they meet the young Yayoi, Plezuon's technician, and her grandfather, the extremely exuberant Doctor Ulshade, who designed the Magnom and the rest of the Kyoryuger's weaponry. Daigo expresses excitement about meeting Violet, but then the Extinctors attack again, and Doctor Ulshade is interrupted from his explanation of Violet's identity. The Kyoryuger's weapons are sealed by the Extinctors, and they're in trouble until who appears but Doctor Ulshade himself, and transforms: into Kyoryu Violet! Who's surprised?? Ulshade is old, however, and during his (seriously ridiculously extended) roll call, he throws out his back and must be hospitalized. He hands off the battery (and the partnership of) Plezuon to Daigo, who uses Plezuon to expel a giant Debo Meetior into space and beat him up.

In the next episode, Daigo spends a lot of time sitting right in Plezuon's mouth and buddying up to him while Yayoi prepares a computer program that will turn Plezuon into a so-called Deboss Hunter. When Dogold and Virsun appear on a dam to pollute the water supply, the Kyoryugers attack. They ultimately defeat Virsun, but back at the Lab, Virsun's offspring, Computer Virsun, has attacked Yayoi and her program. Virsun, however, jumps into the polluted water, and grows huge, so the Kyoryugers change tactics and get in the robot. Computer Virsun dies with his progenitor, but his death raises a signal for Aigaron, Luckiero, and Candelira, who attack the lab from the outside, collapsing it around Yayoi and trapping Plezuon within. Back at the dam, the Kyoryugers are doing well against Debo Virsun, until Chaos appears with the corpse of Deboss himself. The polluted water revives Deboss, who destroys Virsun entirely and overwhelms the Kyoryugers. Daigo attempts to call Plezuon, who is unable to assist, and Kyoryuzin is knocked into pieces. Daigo, stubborn to the end, summons two more Voltasaurs by himself despite the exhausting effect it will have on his body, and pilots the mecha with his comrades unconscious around him, drawing on his brave once more. This display of ferocity appears to frighten Deboss, and he backs off, only to attack his own subordinates. Daigo collapses with the others.

He later wakes in the Spirit Base to find the Voltasaurs in a sort of magical stasis, being restored by the collective more minor Dino Spirits (and Torin's magic), and offers some inspiration to his depressed comrades before he runs off to look for Yayoi and Plezuon. He discovers Yayoi, in danger from Candelira-Luckiero-Aigaron-Debo Iceage, and rescues her with help from one of the more minor Beast Batteries. After a pep talk, he sends her off to help Plezuon, and attacks a newly regrown Deboss from the ground until help arrives in the form of his teammates. They reaffirm their teamwork and their credo of 'we ride together, we die together' and, with a little help from Yayoi finding her own bravery in order to free Plezuon, they defeat Deboss.

This is when he arrives in Exsilium.

Character PERSONALITY: Daigo is, largely, as straightforward as a punch to the face. A gregarious, pleasant, and charismatic young wanderer, Daigo is cheery and fun to be around. He's a hit with children, largely because he speaks to them like they're people who can make their own choices (and also, he's not afraid to get dirty) (and he has a totally sweet dinosaur buddy), but adults who meet him usually find themselves charmed by his easy-going nature. (Once they get past how noisy he is, anyway.) As evidenced by his decision to follow the path of the great lizards as a young child, Daigo is extremely headstrong and decisive. Those traits only grew as he reached adulthood, manifesting as a very candid, straightforward sense of realism. Daigo looks on things with a clear eye; when his teammates are effected by a Debo monster who changes forms and hesitate before attacking her cute, baby-like form, Daigo simply shoots her, pointing out that he just saw her more terrifying, adult form.

That clear-eyed approach to his enemies transfers, too, to his companions. He's insightful with even the most secretive of his teammates, given enough time to observe them, and despite the difference in their intelligence, he understands Gabutyra's intentions even before they share much in the way of communication. Gabutyra's concern for his safety and well-being pops up as a truly ferocious attack against Debo Iceage, which even Torin misinterprets as mere anger, but Daigo sees the truth. "I'm the man who beat you, you don't get to be worried," he points out, brushing off Gabutyra's concerns, and that bravery inspires Gabutyra to unlock Daigo's powers. He repeats these insights with each of his teammates, jolting Nossan with the reality that he became strong to protect his family, Ian with a reminder that even past trauma shouldn't prevent you from attempting to reconnect with people, and Ucchi with a direct edict to stop treating him like a liege lord. He identifies easily and loudly with Souji's father issues despite his own unconditional adoration of his father, and he boosts up both Amy's resolve to reveal her strength to her protective butler, and Yayoi's self-doubt in her capability to help the Kyoryugers and Plezuon. He's observant, noticing little things, but he lets his friends have their facades as long as it doesn't hurt anything. (Half of his teammates are tsundere. It happens.)

Like every Kyoryuger, Daigo is truly, ridiculously brave. It's kind of their defining, unifying trait. Daigo takes bravery a degree beyond that of his teammates into recklessness, forging ahead no matter the cost. His encounter with Tessai and his trials to become Bunpachy's partner taught him to have consideration for possible consequences, but given that his job is "saving the world from monsters", sometimes he has to make a choice. Where before those choices were backed by a lack of fear, they are backed now by a dedication to the team he loves and wants to protect: they are backed now by real bravery, the kind that comes with knowledge of the things at risk. In a do or die situation, Daigo always chooses 'do', because to die means to fail his friends. Even if he dies in the doing, at least he tried--and he only intends on dying if it's alongside their enemies.

Daigo's team is foremost in his mind at all times. As a wanderer, Daigo grew up without any sense of permanency or constants. He has many friends, but few of whom he was in contact with for as long as he's been a Kyoryuger, so he's attached to his teammates. In an episode wherein a Debo monster was capable of seeing the bonds of friendship or romance between teammates, Daigo's connection to Nossan is larger than Nossan's to him, even though Nossan and Daigo are only ever shown being the best of pals. It can be assumed that the only Kyoryugers who have more regard for King than he does for them are Yayoi and Ucchi, and even that is questionable. When a Deboss impostor replaces Ian and destroys a replica of Daigo's precious amber necklace in an attempt to make him angry, Daigo's response is to get upset: not about Ian destroying his necklace, but rather about the fact that he must have done something truly terrible, but that he can't think of what that might have been. He hardly has any kind of self-esteem issues or angst, but Daigo directs his anger first at himself for failing his friends in times of strife. He trusts his teammates implicitly, on the battlefield and off, and that includes emotionally. When Amy and Souji are captured by the enemy, Aigaron threatens Ian, Nossan and Daigo unless they drop their weapons, or Amy and Souji, tied up in a different, unknown location, will die. Ian and Nossan give in immediately, dropping their Magnoms, but Daigo merely shoots the crystal ball Aigaron is using to show them the situation. Amy and Souji are Kyoryugers. Daigo knows they'll find their way free. (Daigo is ultimately proven correct.)

Daigo has a truly amazing amount of mental and physical fortitude, able to stand under even the most traumatic of situations, despite injuries or strain. Nothing much seems to phase King, even things that send his teammates into collapse. He's easy going over a core of steel that never wavers, which is what makes him such a good leader to the group known as "the strongest and bravest in history". He's enthusiastic, but laid-back, going with the flow in terms of group dynamic. Everything comes easily to him, so he reacts with frustration to new and confusing personal challenges. When Tessai tells him "you have no weaknesses, and therefore can grow no stronger", his reaction is "so do I need to get weaker?!" instead of any kind of soul-searching, mostly because he isn't any good at it. Basically, he's insightful with everyone but himself.

Note: Gabutyra has a personality, but it amounts to "affectionate t-rex who is ridiculously brave and loves Daigo a lot". He's like a bright red puppy.

≫ EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON: Daigo arrives with his Kyoryuger powers, but his weapon will be Gabutyra himself! Seeing as Gabutyra is a 25-story tall bright red tyrannosaurus rex, of course, he's shrunk down (I was thinking roughly as tall from head to foot as an adult's forearm, around the size of a small dog, but if something smaller is necessary at first, I'm certainly capable of working with that!) and will be capable of growing to his regular size for a minute or so at a time, and then longer as the weapon evolves, provided Daigo has a battery to charge him with. (Daigo needs one battery to transform, and it costs one to do a finishing move of some sort, so it would be variable by situation.)
Character INVENTORY:
Daigo has one outfit (khaki pants, white long sleeved t-shirt, red and yellow fur-trimmed vest with a cool pocket for a Beast Battery at the collar, his amber claw/tooth pendant, and sneakers), these Beast Batteries (summary:four Gabutyra Batteries, two Batteries unusable in Exsilium, and then several with powers including a fire blast, dizziness, expanding people into balloons, increased gravity, making someone experience immediate attraction, and drilling through pretty much anything), the Magnom (with thigh holster), the Masticaliber (a sword that can fold into the Masticannon attachment), and the Mobuckle, a battery pack that doubles as a cell phone.

≫ ADDITIONAL NOTES brave no longer looks like a word

I've chosen to translate the names of his weapons to the greatest degree possible in order to get across the puns better. The original terms are Gaburevolver, Gaburucannon, and Gaburicaliber. Beast Batteries is a literal translation of "Zyudenchi", and "Voltasaurs" is an approximation of "Zyudenryu". This choice effects literally no one within a play context, but given that only the latter names show up in a Google search, I thought I should be clear.